Crime Pays in South Texas

 Admitted Felon Olivarez Goes Free – Beats Justice System – Maintains Texas Insurance License

Half Guilty, Half Pregnant Arnulfo Olivarez was sentenced yesterday for his crimes. This admitted felon paid bribes to public officials in exchange for lucrative insurance contracts worth millions of taxpayer dollars.  

Arnulfo “Arnie” Cuahtemoc Olivarez
Insurance Agent
4 years probation
$25,000 dollar fine

Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt published in the McAllen Monitor –

Arnie Olivarez: “I want to apologize to my family, especially my daughters and to everyone I’ve done business with.”

Arnie Olivarez: “It’s a common practice but it’s wrong.”

Judge Ricardo Hinojosa: “By doing that, you’re insulting every elected official and every business person who does it the right way, which I believe is the majority. They get hurt every time someone like you does what you did.”

Judge Ricardo Hinojosa: “This is not a victimless crime.”

Arnie Olivarez: “I hurt my family, lost my business, had to let go of of good friends. I’m trying to keep my insurance license. I had a major heart attack and I’ll have to take medication the rest of my life. I’ve been under house arrest the last three and a half years.”

Arnie Olivarez: “I want to apologize to the court and to everyone for all the things I did wrong.”

Judge Ricardo Hinojosa: “I wouldn’t be surprised if he deducted it on the federal income tax for his business making us all sponsors for this trip.”

Judge Ricardo Hinojosa: “I dont’ know how much profit your client made, I gathered it was a lot more than $10,000 dollars.”

Olivarez claimed his contract was worth $180,000 dollars per year for three years.

He said he got half, or about $90,000 dollars per year for three years, but had to use part of it to pay his own staff.

Olivarez claimed he told Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio and the former Hidalgo County Sheriff about bribery allegations. He said that went nowhere.

Olivarez said before he starting making “contributions” and “sponsorships” that the PSJA school illegally cancelled one of his previous contracts.

Judge Hinojosa said he should have gone to authorities and not “played along.”

Defense Attorney Heriberto “Eddie” Medrano: “He has been traumatized. This has been a three and a half year ordeal. He’s been waiting for this day.”

http://www.themonitor.com/articles/today-46495-case-mcallen.html